good tuesday morning. coming up on "early today." south african paralimp star oscar pistorius back in court on the same day his murdered girlfriend is laid to rest. it's enough to make a driver cringe, gas prices climbing steadily for the last 32 days. just how high will they go. plus, what's find the first lady's bangs? a different kind of gold rush in russia. and a spectacular look off the coast of california. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for tuesday, february 19th, 2013. good morning. i'm mara schiavocampo. former olympian oscar pistorius

back in court this morning and there are new details emerging on the murder case against him. the track star arrived just hours ago for a bail hearing in the south african capital. prosecutors say pistorius fired four shots at girlfriend reeva steenkamp during her bath door last week, the 29-year-old model was hit three times and the bathroom door later broken open. pistorius was arrested thursday and charged with premeditated murder. a sentence capable of carrying a life sentence. defense lawyers say the killing was nut murder. meanwhile, funeral service being held in port elizabeth. it capped six days of dramatic fall from grace for the man known as south africa golden boy. today, major sponsors like oakley and nike are cutting ties with pistorius say they go will no longer use him in future ads. turning now to gas prices. and the surprising pace which

they've been climbing. regular gas has gone up for the last 32 days, 43 cents in a month. nbc's tom costello tells us what's behind this recent rise. >> reporter: at gas stations across the country, customers are asking same question, what could possibly send gas prices up 43 cents in a month. that's an extra $8.60 on a 20-gallon car. in chicago, up 70 cents a month to $4.22 a gallon. at this station, $4.29. for taxi driver ray hubert, that's real money. >> it digs into my own pockets. i pay for my own gas. nobody else pays for it. >> reporter: in los angeles, the 50 cents a month to $4.28. >> it just makes sense, we went to las vegas, gas prices were $1.50 less. >> reporter: from coast to coast, gas prices have ridge every day. >> the gasoline prices are

extraordinary for this time of year. usually see this happen as we go into the summer driving season. >> reporter: what's going on? analysts say the reasons are many. international sanctions are reducing the amount of uranium oil on the world market while here at home, refineries are shutting down for maintenance as they prepare to switch to a summer blend. then market speculation and a weaker dollar play a role. >> we have to work. so we keep coming to work every day. but you have to put gas in your car to come to work. >> reporter: 43 cents in a month. >> that was nbc's tom costello. after the long holiday weekend you the president and congressional staffers will be back at work this morning but with only ten days to prevent $85 billion in automatic spending cuts. one group will be noticeably absent in washington this week. nbc's danielle lee has the details. good morning. >> reporter: mara, good morning. strategists on both sides say

staffers will be here negotiating to come up with at any of savings. and president obama is back after a weekend away golf golfing in florida. but congress, they're on recess all week, and when they get back, they'll have just four days to reach a deal. now lawmakers are not entirely on vacation, many are back highlighting the cuts. the speaker will back to kreins the costs. in san diego, 30,000 million tear jobs would be in jeopardy. now many voters here around the capitol have told me that's not good enough. they say lawmakers should be here talking it out in person. confidence that he will reach a deal is dwindling. congress had cutbacks in 2011, think it would force them to come up with a better alternative. the white house wants to balance cuts with new revenue.

reporting live from capitol hill, i'm danielle leigh. back to you. one and done, first term republican senator mike johanns said he won't return again. the 62-year-old former governor and secretary of agriculture added after 32 years in public service it's time to go. he denied he's leaving washington because of partisan politics. passengers aboard the ill-fated carnival cruise for days are beginning to get answers. u.s. coast guard said diesel fuel leaked ton to a hot surface sparking a fire that knocked out the system. coast guard estimates that a full investigation will take about six months. well, it's time now for the weather. bill karins joins us here. how's it going? >> it's so easy to forget the reason they were stranded was fire which is scary enough.

>> right. >> it could be a lot worse. >> yes. good morning, everyone we have an active system across the country. for the next ten days. the current storm is moving up through the great lakes and the weather changing quickly across the ohio valley and deep south with the warm air showers and colder air moving behind it. that's going to be the case on the eastern seaboard. starting out you'll be fine but then the rain pushing in and much colder tomorrow. that cold blast now appears in the northern plains. you notice the green is rain, from flint, detroit, to cleveland. all the way from kentucky, the back side, a little snow in green bay. and some snow showers coming across wisconsin. the southern end of this system had thunderstorms that rolled pretty good through arkansas and most of louisiana. about to head to new orleans and also the gulf coast. looks like steadier rains from birmingham also up to

montgomery. as far as the forecast, the worst of it, the northern plains. serious cold arctic air. windchills minus 38. that was the lowest i could find in the country there. langdon. chicago's windchills dipping down to 5. the windchills will be brutal across the midwest and that's heading to the great lakes. as far as your forecast for today, east coast, you start out dry, showers and light rain this afternoon but much warmer than what we saw yesterday. again, very cold. look at minneapolis, with that windchill in the negative number, a high of 8 degrees. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. today, areas like new york city, chance of showers, it will be afternoon. that cold front will go through later on tonight. charlotte, north carolina, that snow over the weekend, a distant memory, temperatures today in the low 50s with showers. into an active weather pattern, still looks like wednesday and thursday big storm in the middle

of the country. >> thanks so much, bill. just ahead, first lady michelle obama talks about what reaching middle age made her do. plus, details on a whopper of a hacking as burger king's twitter account gets targeted. "early today" returns in two minutes.

welcome back. to "early today." here are some other stories making news this morning. well, almost 150 years late, but mississippi has officially ratified the 15th amendment to abolish slavery. the move comes after the oscar nominated film "lincoln." law make ares in colorado have taken the first step towards enacting the gun control measures. the state house approved measures calling for universal background check et cetera and ban on the magazine clips of more than 15 rounds. no one supported any of the 15 bills in response to last year's aurora shooting. scientists are warning that future weather patterns could

bring less snow but more blizzards. few studies found global warming holding more moisture. i'm sure you've seen michelle obama's new bangs. she said the new look was inspired by a mid-life crisis. on an interview on "rachael ray" the first lady joked about her new do. >> this is my mid-life crisis. i couldn't get a sports car. they won't let me bungee jump so i went for the bangs. >> so you went for the bangs? you're the boss of your hair? >> i can do this, this is all mine. and that meteor that fell last week in russia is sparking a modern-day gold rush. popping up online for thousands of dollars. some say it's worth $22 million per gram. that's more than 40 times the cost of gold. the dow opened at 13,981 after adding 8 points from the holiday weekend. the s&p is down a point and the nasdaq lost 6.

the nikkei fell 32 points while the hang seng dropped 238. investors have turned from the holidays to another corporate marriage in the works. office max and office deep poe are close to announcing a deal to join forces as early as this week. on the earnings front, analysts expect lower profits after the bell today, however bad news could be far for advocates of a looming buyout between micro-dell. a 75-year-old indiana farmer and agri giant. he is suing over soybeans he purchased. somebody hacked burger king's dwiter account posting profane messages. no word on who hacked the account. later in the day tweeting

interesting day here at burger king but we're back. welcome to our new followers. this afternoon, boeing's engineers expected to reject an offer from the new management. the plane maker is already under the gun to resolve battery problems that grounded its new dreamliner fleet. and it's that time of year again, the girl scout's annual assault on your new year's diet resolutions is in full force. and now the group is making it even easier to get your thin mint fix with the newest cookie app. thanks a lot, girl scouts. coming up, whale watchers in southern california are tuned to a rare sight and saying good-bye to a l.a. lakers legend. plus, seeing is believing when nine golfers pull off an amazing trick shot. sports straight ahead. the extended computer models stwhog snowstorms, wednesday/thursday for the middle of the week and possibly

for the third week in a row. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. we begin in florida where firefighters battled raging flames at a gas station. there were a few vehicles in close proximity when fire mysteriously erupted from two pumps. the jacksonville fire department arrived on scene and doused the

flames before anyone got hurt. next to north dakota where a severe storm system produced blizzard-like weather shutting down crews in fargo. and keeping drivers off the stretchers freeways. now to colorado where the ski patrol raced to save skiers swept up in an avalanche. a group of 15 skiers needed to be dug out after a 15-foot wall of snow buried them. each skier was accounted for and thankfully, none suffered major injuries. finally, off the coast of san diego where a spectacular sight played out for whale watchers. house to of dolphins. thousands, swam alongside giving tourists an amazing show. some biologists believe the mammals swim in areas where there's an abundance of food. number 25 notre dame got 13 points from jack cooley. and came back to knock off

number 20 pittsburgh 61-52. >> jerry buss has died at the age of 80. buss put together a team of superstars that won ten championships. daquan bowers was arrested after laechgdly trying to board a plane in new york with a loaded handgun in his carry-on. and the mascot for the washington nationals visited mt. rushmore and the giant carvings of presidents. drag racer antron brown got a lot of excitement at the winternationals when his engine exploded and sent the vehicles exploding. luckily, no injuries. and in canada, nine seniors lined up and sank nine putts one right after another. an amazing hole in one. "early today" sports, a touch of gray. just ahead, the new york post. and the hollywood baby boom

continues. plus, we'll have your daily dose of adorable baby animals. you can never get enough of those. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this terse morning. this is a 48-hour snowfall forecast. this will pretty much take us out as we go throughout your tuesday into wednesday night period. again, this is the upcoming storm system. it looks like the heaviest snows are going to be as we go throughout your wednesday evening into thursday morning.

time for an expanse here as we go into thursday farther north. that's going to be a big storm in the middle of the country and could even be severe weather moving through texas, too, as we go through the next 48 hours. today's forecast, rain showers for the east coast. and much colder in the northern plains. highs today, 21 in chicago. all day long, you'll be close down zero. and you really don't get much improvement on wednesday. that sets the stage, mara, the cold air is in place for the middle of the country pop. the saga of alec baldwin's problems continued. new hampshire post accused of assaulting. while walking the a dog, baldwin reportedly grabbed her by the arm and said i hope you choke to death. and then the photographer, who is african-american, allegedly calling him a crack head, baldwin claims none of this is

true. fergie announced she's expecting her first child. she tweeted the news with the hash tag, my lovely baby bump. and access hollywood asked the question, do you ever buy a bottle? surprisingly, 32% of respondents said yes. but the price of the wine may change a bit. if it's not two buck chuck, i don't want it. and finally, paul mccartney always said how his grandkids beat him at the beatles game. that's the trump card, right? >> that's fun, right? >> yeah. >> it's one of those games that's about you. >> and it would be fun to play with the person who that is modeled after. a little intimidating, apparently, they're not hard to beat. >> there would be pressure having him as your grandpa. >> they probably don't even know. the next one comes from kbeo news center in brownsville, texas.

officials are hoping the change of address can save the life of a baby gorilla. little cindy is is heading to ohio. the 17-day gorilla has been kept alive by volunteers after being rejected by her mother. she's being moved to an ohio zoo. >> i only want an update on that story if there's a happy ending. >> she'll probably go in and nurse off a tiger. you know how that always goes? >> we'll play another one. >> i'm mara schiavocampo, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. a quiet start for us but things are going to change. we have some rain coming in. 38 downtown. 27 in frederick. we are still below freezing in some areas. we have some rain coming in from the lwest. rain showers likely later today. high temperature of 45.

>> thank you. 29 degrees at the airport. a trial for the teenager accused of shooting another student. >> a new shooting this morning in the middle river. >> a doctor commits suicide amid some disturbing allegations. >> it is going to help. >> think about the children. >> proposed bill would make it illegal to smoke with a kid in the car. >> we are checking

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-brea.